Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand questioned Gareth Southgate’s in-game decisions during their quarter final against France.
The Three Lions were beaten 2-1, with an Olivier Giroud goal sending France into the semis.
However, England could have equalised through a late Harry Kane penalty, but the Tottenham forward missed his spot kick, having previously converted a penalty to make it 1-1 for England.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: “Our [England’s] substitutions is where I think Gareth Southgate let us down.
“I think he’s been pitch-perfect, touch-perfect in almost every decision he’s made up to this point, but you get into a game like yesterday where this is really where it matters now, and I think Gareth Southgate came up short in the tactical element in terms of substitutions.
“That’s part of tactics, making substitutions, and in-game management and deciding games with substitutions at the business end of a tournament, I think he would hold his hands up maybe in retrospect.
“I threw a text in the group, and I stand by this: Gareth, in the moment, wasn’t proactive with his substitutions, he was reactive.
“It hit 1-1 and we’re sitting there going ‘take the bull by the horns, make a substitution, get us on the front foot’. You’ve got Rashford, you’ve got Grealish who can go on, get us on the front foot and change this game.
“You’re sitting there going, ‘It’s too late, man’. You’ve got to do this when we’ve got the chance of still winning this game and taking the game from them.”
